The Montreal Canadiens snuck into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as an 8-seed in the East, edging out the New York Rangers by a single point in the standings. They pulled off a sizable upset in the first round as they knocked out the 1-seed Washington Capitals in seven games. They drew the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round and managed to force that series to a seventh game as well. The Canadiens won again, 5-2.

“They did a lot of good things that good teams need to do to win,” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. “Unfortunately for us, we didn’t do that.”

Pittsburgh did little right on Wednesday night — and the Canadiens played perhaps their best game of the playoffs.

Montreal took a 4-0 lead in the game’s first 26 minutes, chasing goalie Marc-Andre Fleury by scoring on four of just 13 shots. After that, the visiting team did what it has all series, limiting Pittsburgh’s high-powered offense with a suffocating plan in the defensive zone and relying on the brilliance of goalie Jaroslav Halak. –NHL.com

Oh, and we had some riots–in Montreal (did we mention this game was in Pittsburgh?)

Police regained control of the downtown core early Thursday after firing tear gas at hundreds of bottle-tossing youths who looted businesses following the Montreal Canadiens’ Game 7 victory in Pittsburgh.

Looters wrapped their faces in garments — in some cases the ones they’d stolen — and dashed into a liquor store. With their identities concealed, they leaped through the smashed front window and emerged moments later with their arms full. –The AP.

Whose fanbase goes on a looting spree after reaching a conference final? Is there that little going on in Montreal right now? Anyway, Montreal will face the winner of that Flyers-Bruins series; they’ll have their own Game 7 on Friday. I’d like to see either of those teams lose to the Canadiens. Even if Montreal suffers from looting for the next two weeks, they still wouldn’t be as obnoxious as Philly or Boston fans.